


No Man’s Land

by Zatnikatel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-24
Updated: 2012-12-24
Packaged: 2017-11-22 07:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/607266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zatnikatel/pseuds/Zatnikatel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><strong>Spoilers</strong> Up to 8.09</p>
    </blockquote>





	No Man’s Land

**Author's Note:**

> **Spoilers** Up to 8.09

 

**I. Three Kings**

Benny Lafitte is useful.

"Barnacle Bill the Sailor says he has a way out of here," Dean reiterates under his breath to Castiel when Lafitte takes the point as they leave the clearing, and so Castiel tolerates Lafitte.

This strange land is a war of attrition, a struggle for survival, and they have each other's backs here. The nature of Lafitte's particular beast is instinctive, swift, vicious, good in a fight. And so the day comes when he reaches down to Castiel, and Castiel takes his hand.

As Lafitte pulls him up, Castiel's gaze drifts to Dean's eyes, wide, terrified and desperate, his face ashen under the grime and blood streaks. And Dean's eyes are wide, terrified and desperate in the glow of the firelight too, when he turns to Castiel in the night and puts his hand on Castiel's cheek.

"Cas," Dean says, in a voice that breaks like dry wood. "Cas," he breathes onto Castiel's lips, and, "Cas," he licks into Castiel's mouth. "I love you," he whispers as he pulls Castiel close and holds on like he might never let go.

 

**II. Thieves Like Us**

Benny Lafitte is intuitive.

"I know something about you, Mr. Shiny," he mocks carelessly one night, when Dean's head is heavy on Castiel's shoulder and Dean's heat is seeping into Castiel's flesh, his bones, his heart, his grace.

Castiel doesn't bristle at the nickname anymore. He meets the vampire's ice-chip stare, says, "And I know something about you."

He eases the words out slow and savage, like a warning. They corrode through the vampire's bravado like the acid they are, so that Lafitte's eyes narrow and his gaze falters.

"I know why you saved me," Castiel tells him.

 

**III. If I Should Fall From Grace With God**

Benny Lafitte is a praying man.

"Dean said you made it out," he says. "Good for you, brother."

Castiel can taste the copper of blood in the air. "Why did you pray to me?" he asks.

Lafitte pours a quantity of the liquor he is drinking into a spare glass and nudges it to the opposite side of the table, pushes the other chair out with his foot at the same time. "No fun drinking alone," he remarks.

Castiel doesn't sit, but he takes the drink, savors the smoky burn as it trickles down his throat. He sets the glass down, flicks it across the wood so that it clinks gently on the bottle. "It would be a mistake for you to forget what I am," he says. "In fact, it would be a strategic error of some magnitude."

Lafitte smiles. "Oh, I haven't forgotten what you are." He leans back in his seat, raises an eyebrow almost playfully. "What do you see when you look at me?"

Castiel sees filth, squalor and malignance in Lafitte, he sees darkness that seethes with infection, and at its center he sees the diseased husk that is this monster's soul. "I see myself," he murmurs.

Lafitte nods. "You once said you knew why I saved you down there."

Castiel remembers, remembers how they both were abominations in that other place, both were each other's salvation down there too, and more than once. "You saved me for this," he acknowledges.

"One monster to another," Lafitte quips, and he waves a hand at the chair where it waits. "Sit, brother. Come on, drink with me, to better days."

Castiel sits as Lafitte pours him another drink, tops up his own glass.

There is a second of heavy silence, then, "Will I feel it?" Lafitte asks, and perhaps there is a sharper edge of fear there now.

Castiel finds he can be gentle as he reaches for his glass. "You won't feel a thing," he says.

 


End file.
